The Sunday Herald has become the first newspaper to publicly back a Yes vote in the Scottish independence referendum.

The front page of the weekly title states "Sunday Herald says Yes" and is decorated with a giant thistle and saltires in a design by artist and writer Alasdair Gray, who also supports independence.

An editorial article in the paper reads: ''Scotland is an ancient nation and a modern society. We understand the past, as best we can, and guess at the future. But history is as nothing to the lives of the children being born now, this morning, in the cities, towns and villages of this country.

"On their behalf, we assert a claim to a better, more decent, more just future in which a country's governments will be ruled always by the decisions of its citizens.''

The paper supported the SNP in the 2007 and 2011 Scottish Parliament elections. It said it will remain balanced in its reporting.

An article on the newspaper's website said: "The Herald & Times Group, publisher of the Sunday Herald, The Herald and the Evening Times, is giving the titles' editors freedom to take their own editorial position on the constitution. The company is non-political and neutral.

"The Herald has not declared an opinion on the referendum question. It will be up to its editor to decide when and if to do so."